Alba Farelo i Solé (born 7 March 1997), known professionally as Bad Gyal, is a Spanish singer, songwriter, DJ and model. Known for her distinctive overall use of

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

, Bad Gyal has developed a strong cult following ever since her musical career began in 2016 with her interpretation of Rihanna's "

Work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...

" in the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...

. She then continued to make music as an independent artist, releasing records like "Indapanden", "

Jacaranda ''Jacaranda'' is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. The generic name is also used as the common name. The species ''Jacaranda mimosifolia'' has achie ...

" or "Fiebre". Bad Gyal later released two mixtapes: ''

Slow Wine Mixtape ''Slow Wine Mixtape'' is the debut mixtape by Spanish singer Bad Gyal. It was released on 9 November 2016 independently. It was presented with two singles: "Mercadona" and "Fiebre". It includes collaborations with Ms Nina and Elvis KNK. Regard ...

'' (2016) and ''

Worldwide Angel ''Worldwide Angel'' is the second mixtape by Spanish singer and songwriter Bad Gyal. It was released on 23 February 2018 by Puro Records and Canada Editorial. ''Worldwide Angel'' was presented with four singles: "Blink", "Candela", "Internation ...

'' (2018), which consecrated her as an emerging artist within the Spanish urban scene. Farelo signed Interscope and Aftercluv a year later and saw mainstream acclaim with songs like "Santa María", "

Zorra Zorra is a township in Oxford County, situated in south-western Ontario, Canada. A predominantly rural municipality, Zorra was formed in 1975 through the amalgamation of East Nissouri, West Zorra and North Oxford townships. It is best known for ...

" or " Alocao", the latter becoming the number-one song in Spain in 2019. 2021 saw the release of her first project as a signed artist '' Warm Up'', as well as '' Sound System: The Final Releases''. Other ventures of Bad Gyal besides music include fashion and modelling. She made her modelling debut at Andrés Sardá's Spring/Summer 2022 show at

Madrid Fashion Week Backstage at Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid 2017. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, was known as ''Pasarela Cibeles'' until 2008 or Cibeles Madrid Fashion week up until 2012, is the principal platform to promote fa ...

. As for social activism, Farelo has been an advocate for

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

Early life

Alba Farelo i Solé was born on 7 March 1997 in

Vilassar de Mar Vilassar de Mar () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Premià de Mar and Cabrera de Mar, to the north-east of Barcelona. The town is both a tourist centre and a dormitory t ...

, Barcelona. The eldest of five children, Farelo is the daughter of , a voice actor who worked for international productions such as ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' and '' Star Wars''. After taking , Farelo studied a degree in

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...

at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

. While attending university and working at a call centre, she released "Pai" in April 2016, an adaptation of "

" by Rihanna in the

. She stated that she never meant for that song to become viral and that she just did it to create a funny memory with her group of friends. However, with that video Farelo became one of the first artists to sing typically Latin music genres in Catalan and was named one of the biggest musical promises in Spain after the

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

was picked up by a local radio. While working in a bakery in her hometown, she decided to drop out of college to pursue a serious career in the music industry. She began as an independent artist singing covers and playing music in nightclubs in the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .

Career

2016–2018: ''Slow Wine Mixtape'' and ''Worldwide Angel''

"Pai" gained popularity on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, and was picked up by a local radio, which led to the creation of a mixtape, ''

'', with producer Pablo Martínez. The mixtape was released on 9 November 2016. Through that era, she hit a page on several professional music magazines and websites including ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' and '' Fact''. ''Fact'' named her song "

" the number 1 single of 2017. After releasing the mixtape's debut single "Fiebre", Bad Gyal started to grow exponentially in the areas of El Maresme, Barcelona, and other points of Spain. Throughout the years, the song has developed a cult following and has been catalogued as a must play at clubs and music festivals. As "Fiebre" was having a lot of success, she was offered many record deals, which she turned down after some legal advises by lawyers and her dream to continue as an independent artist. The success of the mixtape and its critical acclaim led Farelo to perform at several festivals in Iceland and Japan, as well as the Red Bull Music Academy Festival in Los Angeles, and

Sónar Sónar is a festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero. The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception: Sónar by Day and Sónar b ...

in Barcelona. In late 2017 she also toured Mexico and the US. In February 2018, she released her second mixtape to critical acclaim, which she titled ''

''. The album was licensed and distributed with Canada Editorial. The mixtape was produced by

Jam City Jack Latham is a British electronic music producer and DJ who performs under the alias Jam City. He has been active since 2010 and records on the label Night Slugs. He has released three full-length albums: 2012's ''Classical Curves'', 2015's ...

, Dubbel Dutch, Florentino and

El Guincho Pablo Díaz-Reixa (born November 17, 1983), professionally known as el Guincho, is a Spanish musician, singer, and record producer. Díaz-Reixa rose to prominence with his 2008 album, '' Alegranza''. His musical style relies heavily on the use ...

. It spawned many singles including " Blink", "Candela" and "Internationally". The last one was included in the digital soundtrack of the first season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

teen drama series '' Élite'' and was featured in an episode. To promote the album, she took part of international festivals such as SXSW and Lollapalooza and toured once again the United States. During winter season she embarked on her first Asian tour, which visited countries like Japan, China and the Philippines. She also released "Open the Door" featuring Jamaican singer Govana, "Yo Sigo Iual" and "Unknown Feeling".

2019–2021: Commercial breakthrough and ''Warm Up''

Formerly signed with the production company Canada Editorial, in April 2019 it was announced Farelo had signed with Interscope Records and Aftercluv Dance Lab. The next month she was featured in Spanish ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. As a signed artist, Farelo moved to a more mainstream field with her first release being the long-anticipated "Santa María" featuring

Busy Signal Reanno Devon Gordon (born 24 January 1979), better known by his stage name Busy Signal, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae artist. Biography Reanno Devon Gordon p/k/a Busy Signal was born in Saint Ann Parish,Johnson, Carolyn (2006)A Very Busy Chi ...

. It was released in parallel with " Milionària" by

Rosalía Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía (, ), is a Spanish singer. Born and raised in the outskirts of Barcelona, she has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. ...

, in which some called "the biggest musical weekend celebration in recent Catalan music memory". It marked Farelo's first charting song in Spain. It was later certified gold. A couple weeks later she released its B-side track, "Hookah", which peaked at 55 in Spain. During the summer she embarked on her third solo tour Bad Gyal Soundsystem, which visited many festivals including

, Jameson Urban Routes, Hellow, Arenal Sound and Ceremonia, among others. In October 2019 Farelo collaborated with

Omar Montes Omar Ismael Montes Moreno (born 22 June 1988) is a Spanish singer and media personality who became known for his appearances in reality shows such as ''Mujeres y Hombres y Viceversa'', '' Gran Hermano VIP'', and ''Supervivientes'', as well as ...

on " Alocao", which eventually became huge in Spain and selected parts of Latin America. The song peaked at number one in Spain for several weeks and was certified five times platinum. Two months later, she released her biggest commercial solo track to date, "

", which peaked at number two and was certified three times platinum in Spain. Bad Gyal offered two major solo sold-out concerts at Razzmatazz and another sold-out one at La Riviera. The Soundsystem show was expected to begin a major Spanish and Latin American leg starting 8 March 2020, but could only do three shows due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Appearances at festivals like Estéreo Picnic and

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espanyo ...

were cancelled while the whole tour was postponed to 2021. During the pandemic, Farelo was featured on

Kafu Banton Zico Alberto Garibaldi Roberts (born June 3, 1979), better known by his stage name Kafu Banton, is a Panamanian singer and songwriter of Spanish dancehall. Life Kafu was born in 1979 in Cólon, Panama City. The name is expired in Kafu follo ...

's " Tú eres un bom bom", which would later be remixed in collaboration with

Guaynaa Jean Carlos Santiago Pérez (born September 16, 1992), known professionally as Guaynaa, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. He is known for the song "ReBoTa", which became his first song to reach the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart in April ...

. She also released "Aprendiendo el sexo" later on, with a music video produced by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and filmed at the luxurious W Hotel Barcelona. In November, she paired with Juanka and released "Blin blin" to commercial success and the acclaim of the general public. The track became viral in her home country and had a significant use on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

. She also partnered with

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

and offered a unique virtual concert. Bad Gyal released her first extended play '' Warm Up'' on 19 March 2021 with her latest releases including the controversial

Rauw Alejandro Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz (born January 10, 1993), known professionally as Rauw Alejandro, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. Referred to as the " King of Modern Reggaeton", he belongs to "the new generation" of Puerto Rican urban musi ...

"Zorra" remix and the YouTube censored "Pussy". The EP peaked at 5 in Spain. She also collaborated with clothing brand

Bershka Bershka () is a clothing retailer company created in 1998 in Spain. It is part of the Spanish Inditex group (which also owns brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Oysho, Uterqüe, Stradivarius and Zara Home Zara Home is a company ...

and released an exclusive clothing line. On 25 June, she collaborated with

Mariah Angeliq Mariah Angelique Pérez (born August 7, 1999), known professionally as Mariah Angeliq, is an American singer. Early life Angeliq was born Mariah Angelique Pérez in Miami, Florida, to a Cuban father and Puerto Rican mother. She was named after ...

and

María Becerra María de los Ángeles Becerra (born 12 February 2000) is an Argentine singer and former YouTuber. She has been dubbed as "a leading voice in Argentina's urban pop movement". Career Becerra began her career at twelve years of age on the platfor ...

on "Bobo", which sampled

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

's " No Scrubs" and sparked controversy due to similarity with Luchy DR's "Bufón". As tour season came to an end, Farelo published "Flow 2000" as well as the three-side single '' Sound System: The Final Releases'' featuring songs she had been performing live for years yet remained unreleased. She parallelly released "A la mía" exclusively for the ''

Grand Theft Auto Online ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xb ...

'' radio station

Motomami Los Santos ''Motomami'' (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by Spanish singer Rosalía, released on 18 March 2022 through Columbia Records. Rosalía enlisted producers Noah Goldstein, Michael Uzowuru, Dylan Wiggins and Pharrell Williams as wel ...

hosted by

and Arca.

Awards and nominations

Discography

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

Videography

Music videos

Television

Tours

Headlining

* Slow Wine Tour (2017) * International Bad Gyal Sound System (2019–2021) * La Joia Tour (2022)

References

Notes References

External links

* * {{Bad Gyal 1997 births 21st-century Spanish women singers 21st-century Spanish singers Dancehall singers Feminist musicians Interscope Records artists Living people LGBT rights activists from Spain People from Vilassar de Mar Reggaeton musicians Spanish electronic musicians Spanish feminists Spanish pop singers Spanish women singers Spanish women singer-songwriters Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists University of Barcelona alumni